Winter Storms...
The smart critters are hibernating by now. When it's easier to just sleep in someplace warm and dry, instead of burning energy trying to scare up scarce hunting, and competing with everyone else for too few things, sometimes it's just easier to hide down and wait for spring.
But who can say when Spring will come? Do we, perhaps, doom ourselves to a cold winter sleep, never to awaken, when we step away from the game that is so-called life? Will the world travel on without us, leaving us with no hope to catch up?
I do know that it has been entirely too long since I wrote anything here - I have my reasons, and some of them are very, very good. Others are significantly painful. But all of them are mysteries at the moment, and shall remain so for the time being.
Today's thought is about the gift of spirit - how one gives it, how one receives it.
Context is everything - looked at one way, it's religion; another, it's team camaderie; and a third, simply Christmas.
Someone told me that they were having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit. This puzzled me, because I don't understand the concept of giving spirit of the consumer/holly/holy variety - three roughly alien concepts to me, since I'm decidedly non-materialistic, non-religious, and usually decorating involves some level of effort that I've not needed to muster since moving out of my parents place. When you live several states away from family, you don't get invited to trim the tree; you can always visit friends trees or relatives trees or downtown trees. (Now -those- are trees.)
But yet, those things do not create Christmas spirit for me. As I understand it, it is supposed to contain one or more of the following: giving, good cheer, peace on earth, goodwill towards all men, religious ceremony, caroling, snow, gifts, Kris Kringle, decorating, holly, mistletoe, ivy, eggnog...
All things which I've gotten away from in my life, among other things.
And I don't miss it. I'm old enough to where I don't really need presents; I caught myself nearly falling into the trap of
I do miss other things, though. And there will be one thing I will sorely miss on Christmas.
Nope. You don't get to know what that is. Because that's off-topic.
I realize that the brute force approach with my friend would be heavy exposure to Christmas stuff, but owing to the fact that I'm decidedly cash-strapped at the moment, that's outside my budgetary realm. And I am concerned that seeing other people's displays will result in a homesick, depressed friend (as they number along the jobless cadre), instead of the desired result.
Not asking for help; just vaguely talking out loud.
I am at peace with myself these days; I do not need to 'get into the Christmas thing', and neither am I being a miser about all this; it's just been way busy, and I have to eat before I can hang mistletoe (it's poisonous, after all.)
All in all; going to be a very quiet Christmas. And I don't mind at all.
Maybe what I need to do is teach my friend how to do the same.
-Denali
But who can say when Spring will come? Do we, perhaps, doom ourselves to a cold winter sleep, never to awaken, when we step away from the game that is so-called life? Will the world travel on without us, leaving us with no hope to catch up?
I do know that it has been entirely too long since I wrote anything here - I have my reasons, and some of them are very, very good. Others are significantly painful. But all of them are mysteries at the moment, and shall remain so for the time being.
Today's thought is about the gift of spirit - how one gives it, how one receives it.
Context is everything - looked at one way, it's religion; another, it's team camaderie; and a third, simply Christmas.
Someone told me that they were having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit. This puzzled me, because I don't understand the concept of giving spirit of the consumer/holly/holy variety - three roughly alien concepts to me, since I'm decidedly non-materialistic, non-religious, and usually decorating involves some level of effort that I've not needed to muster since moving out of my parents place. When you live several states away from family, you don't get invited to trim the tree; you can always visit friends trees or relatives trees or downtown trees. (Now -those- are trees.)
But yet, those things do not create Christmas spirit for me. As I understand it, it is supposed to contain one or more of the following: giving, good cheer, peace on earth, goodwill towards all men, religious ceremony, caroling, snow, gifts, Kris Kringle, decorating, holly, mistletoe, ivy, eggnog...
All things which I've gotten away from in my life, among other things.
And I don't miss it. I'm old enough to where I don't really need presents; I caught myself nearly falling into the trap of
I do miss other things, though. And there will be one thing I will sorely miss on Christmas.
Nope. You don't get to know what that is. Because that's off-topic.
I realize that the brute force approach with my friend would be heavy exposure to Christmas stuff, but owing to the fact that I'm decidedly cash-strapped at the moment, that's outside my budgetary realm. And I am concerned that seeing other people's displays will result in a homesick, depressed friend (as they number along the jobless cadre), instead of the desired result.
Not asking for help; just vaguely talking out loud.
I am at peace with myself these days; I do not need to 'get into the Christmas thing', and neither am I being a miser about all this; it's just been way busy, and I have to eat before I can hang mistletoe (it's poisonous, after all.)
All in all; going to be a very quiet Christmas. And I don't mind at all.
Maybe what I need to do is teach my friend how to do the same.
-Denali